In his first season at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz impressed, finishing every race of the year and scoring at all but two races. Here’s Sainz’s 2021 Formula 1 season in statistics!
RACE STATS
| Championship Position: | 5th |
| Total Points: | 164.5 |
| % of teams’ points scored: | 51% |
| Points Scoring Grands Prix: | 20 |
| Best finish: | 2nd (Monaco) |
| Number of starts: | 22 |
| Number of non-finishes: | 0 |
| Number of finishes: | 22 |
| Laps Led: | 12 |
| Laps Complete: | 1294 |
| % of Laps Complete: | 99.77% |
| Distance Covered: | 6399.467km |
| Laps Raced in the Top 10: | 1185 |
| Laps Raced in the Top 5: | 359 |
| Laps Raced in the Top 3: | 157 |
| Races gained positions in: | 10 |
| Races lost positions in: | 9 |
| Finished where started: | 3 |
QUALIFYING STATS
| Q3 Appearances: | 15 |
| Q2 Exits: | 7 |
| Q1 Exits: | 0 |
| Best Qualifying Position: | 2nd (Russia) |
| Worst Qualifying Position: | 15th (x3) |
| Average Qualifying Position: | 8.09 |
| Average Grid Position: | 7.91 |
| Beat team-mate in how many qualifying sectors: | 50 |
| Beaten by team-mate in how many qualifying sectors: | 16 |
| Average gap to team-mate per sector in qualifying: | -0.162s |
A STATISTIC FROM EVERY GRAND PRIX
2021 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz set the fastest time in Q2 on his Ferrari debut, pipping team-mate Charles Leclerc to the fastest time by just one thousandth of a second. It was the first time Ferrari had been fastest in a qualifying session since Leclerc topped the timesheet in Q2 at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sainz went on to qualify in eighth place – the lowest qualifying position for the driver who was fastest in Q2 since Kimi Raikkonen at the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix. Raikkonen also qualified eighth for that race having set the fastest time in Q2. Sainz finished the race in eighth place – the worst result for a Ferrari driver on their first race with the team since Giancarlo Fisichella came home ninth at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix.
2021 EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz’s fifth place ensured that the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix would be only the second race since the start of the 2020 season in which both Ferrari drivers have finished in the top five. This was the thirteenth top five finish of Sainz’s career; his ninth fifth place finish.
2021 PORTUGUESE GRAND PRIX
At the Portuguese Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz out-qualified Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc for the first time. Sainz qualified in fifth, recording his fifth top five qualifying result in Formula 1. It was the first time Sainz has qualified in the top five since the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix. In the race, for the first time since his retirement at the 2020 Russian Grand Prix, Sainz finished outside of the points. The Ferrari driver finished the race in eleventh place.
2021 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
With sixth place, Carlos Sainz recorded his best home qualifying result since setting the fifth fastest time on his maiden Spanish Grand Prix appearance with Toro Rosso in 2015. Sainz was out-qualified by his team-mate on home soil for only the second time. With seventh place in the race, Sainz maintained his record of scoring points on every appearance at the Spanish Grand Prix. 2021 is the first time since 2015 that he has finished the Spanish Grand Prix in a worse position than where he started from.
2021 MONACO GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz was out-qualified by his team-mate in Monaco for the first time in his career. The Spaniard went on to finish on the podium for the third time in his career, equalling his best ever F1 result. Sainz’s second place made the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix the fourth consecutive Monaco race in which a Ferrari driver has finished in second place.
2021 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX
With fifth place, Carlos Sainz recorded his best ever Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying result. His previous best was tenth place, recorded in 2018. Sainz is still yet to out-qualify a team-mate at the circuit. He went on to finish the race in eighth place, making this the fourth consecutive Azerbaijan Grand Prix in which he has scored.
2021 FRENCH GRAND PRIX
The 2021 French Grand Prix was the second – and final – race of the 2021 season at which Carlos Sainz failed to score. Both times he failed to score, he finished in eleventh place. Strangely, both races at which Sainz failed to score were the only two races at which he had out-qualified his team-mate up to this point in the year.
2021 STYRIAN GRAND PRIX
After recording Ferrari’s second Q2 exit of the 2021 season, Carlos Sainz finished the Styrian Grand Prix in sixth place, marking his fourth consecutive points-scoring appearance in Austria. It’s the equal-longest points scoring streak at the track, joint with Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris.
2021 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
Along with fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz set a new record for most Q2 exits at the Red Bull Ring. After starting tenth on the grid, Sainz finished the race in fifth place, equalling his best Red Bull Ring result. He also finished fifth at the circuit in the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.
2021 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
Finishing in the top six for a third consecutive race, Carlos Sainz equalled his best Silverstone result with sixth place. He also finished sixth in the 2019 British Grand Prix.
2021 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
Vettel’s disqualification promoted Carlos Sainz into the podium positions at the Hungarian Grand Prix. It was the Spaniard’s fourth podium – meaning he had celebrated only half of his podium finishes by actually standing on the rostrum. Sainz is the first driver to record a podium finish having started from fifteenth on the grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
2021 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Finishing in tenth place, Carlos Sainz scored at the Belgian Grand Prix for the first time since 2017. He is yet to finish above tenth here, having also finished tenth on his only other points-scoring appearance.
2021 DUTCH GRAND PRIX
Despite crashing out in Free Practice 3, Carlos Sainz recovered to qualify in sixth place for the Dutch Grand Prix. Finishing seventh, Sainz scored points for a sixth consecutive race. That equalled his second-longest points-scoring streak in Formula 1.
2021 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
Despite crashing in Free Practice 2, Carlos Sainz out-qualified team-mate Charles Leclerc for the first time since the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. Sainz finished the Italian Grand Prix in sixth place, scoring for a seventh consecutive race.
2021 RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz set the second-fastest time in qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix and recorded the first front row start of his Formula 1 career. In the race, Sainz recorded his fifth podium finish – but this was only the third time that the Spaniard has actually stood on the podium. He is the 100th F1 driver to reach five podium finishes in his career and the ninth different driver to finish on the podium at the Russian Grand Prix. The Spaniard led the opening twelve laps of the race, leading more laps in this race than he had in his F1 career to date.
2021 TURKISH GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz started nineteenth at the Turkish Grand Prix – but that didn’t stop him scoring points. With his eighth place finish, Sainz scored for a ninth consecutive race, equalling the longest points-scoring streak of his career to date. The Spaniard has now started nineteenth or further back ten times, and has scored on six of those occasions. He did so at the 2015 Monaco Grand Prix, the 2015 United States Grand Prix, the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix, the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix, the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix and the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix. Sainz’s points make nineteenth the second-furthest back grid slot from which points have been scored at the Turkish Grand Prix. The only driver to have scored from further back is Kamui Kobayashi, who started 24th and finished tenth in 2011.
2021 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
Finishing in seventh place at the United States Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz scored for a tenth consecutive race. As well as extending the longest active scoring streak in F1, Sainz also set a new personal best for his longest scoring streak. He’s the 27th different driver to have picked up points at ten or more consecutive race weekends.
2021 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX
With sixth place on Saturday, Carlos Sainz recorded his best Mexican Grand Prix qualifying result. He has improved his qualifying position by one place on each appearance since his first visit here in 2015. Finishing in sixth place, Sainz scored points at the Mexican Grand Prix for the first time. This was the eleventh consecutive race in which the Spaniard has scored, making him the 24th driver to score at eleven or more races in a row in Formula 1 history.
2021 SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz made the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix the 40th occasion on which a driver has scored at twelve consecutive Grands Prix. With Daniel Ricciardo retiring, Sainz now has the longest active finishing streak in F1, having finished all of the last 26 races.
2021 QATAR GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz finished in the points for a thirteenth consecutive race. This was the 27th race in a row at which Sainz has reached the chequered flag. That saw him equal the seventh longest finishing streak in F1.
2021 SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz qualified in fifteenth place, failing to reach Q3 for the first time since the Turkish Grand Prix, when he also qualified fifteenth. Sainz went on to finish eighth. The four points he scored saw him overtake Nico Hulkenberg as the driver to have scored the most career points without winning a Grand Prix. Sainz also became only the sixth driver to have crossed the finish line at 28 consecutive races.
2021 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz qualified fifth, recording his best Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying result to date. It was the first time Sainz has out-qualified his team-mate at Yas Marina Circuit since his maiden season in 2015. Sainz secured fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship with his fourth podium finish of the year. Crossing the finish line for the 29th consecutive race, he equalled Fernando Alonso for the sixth longest finishing streak in F1. Sainz finished every race this year. It’s only the tenth occasion on which a driver has finished every race in a season.